Doctor Aphra is actually Marvel's riskiest Star Wars project to date. It's the first series to focus on comic book-specific characters rather than those made famous by the movies and TV series. That also happens to be one of Doctor Aphra's biggest selling points. The distance from the movies gives Doctor Aphra a greater sense of freedom in terms of tone, style and plot possibilities. And it's immediately clear that writer Kieron Gillen and artist Kev Walker intend on taking advantage of that freedom.

This new series picks up in the aftermath of Gillen and Salvador Larroca's recently concluded Darth Vader comic. As far as Vader and the galaxy at large are concerned, Aphra is dead, leaving her free to resume her work as an opportunistic archaeologist. But that's not to say she doesn't have her fair share of problems. With Aphra owing massive piles of credits to both a criminal cartel and her "partner," Black Krrsantan and barely managing to keep a leash on her homicidal droids, her problems have hardly ended with her staged death.